Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 1
December 17, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first month of boys basketball season always is stock-piled with invitationals, showcases and match-ups pitting the predicted best in the state.
Most of those games will take place of the next three weeks and give us a better idea of what to expect once league play heats up in January. But it took only a few days for a number of teams to indicate their winters could be special.
As with last season’s "Breslin Bound" reports, what’s below isn’t a top 10 of any sort – just a list of 10 teams that stuck out last week among the hundreds of results that rolled in to the MHSAA.com Score Center.
1. Walled Lake Western (1-0, Class A) – Arguably the most intriguing result of the season’s first week was Western’s 73-69 win over reigning Class B champion Detroit Country Day, which beat Western by four a year ago.
2. South Haven (2-0, Class B) – The Rams’ 20-win season in 2013-14 ended with a Regional Final loss to Stevensville Lakeshore, but they started last week by beating Lakeshore 70-65.
3. Howell (1-0, Class A) – The Highlanders were a solid 13-10 last season, and jump to this list this week after beating reigning Class C champion Flint Beecher 58-53.
4. Powers North Central (2-0, Class D) – The Jets have hardly slowed after making the Class D Semifinals last season; they opened with wins of 47 and 45 points.
5. Taylor Kennedy (2-0, Class A) – The Eagles are coming off a 10-13 finish, but kicked off December by avenging last season’s 26-point loss to Detroit Catholic Central with a three-point win.
6. Reed City (2-0, Class B) – Reed City looks good to move up from its middle-of-the-league finish last season in the Central State Activities Association, if an opening-night 76-75 win over Cadillac is an indication.
7. Saginaw Valley Lutheran (1-0, Class C) – The Chargers did win 20 games last season after opening with a 24-point loss to Bridgeport; last week the Chargers opened with a 69-60 win over the Bearcats.
8. Coopersville (1-0, Class B) – The Broncos won one game in 2012-13 and lost twice to Spring Lake by an average of 26 points per; they opened this season by beating Spring Lake 55-52.
9. New Lothrop (2-0, Class C) – The Hornets finished 2012-13 with a disappointing exit in their first playoff game, but opened this winter with a 61-49 victory over reigning Class D runner-up Lansing Christian.
10. Dansville (2-0, Class C) – The Aggies’ four-win 2012-13 included a 43-point loss to Lansing Christian; Dansville is halfway to that win total already and beat the Pilgrims 47-44 on Friday.
PHOTO: Portland (white jerseys) kicked off 2013-14 with a 60-50 win at Alma on Tuesday. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Class C: Reaching Higher
March 22, 2012
EAST LANSING – After falling in the first week of the MHSAA tournament last season, there was no way Traverse City St. Francis was going to look ahead to the end of March this winter.
But riding the bus to Breslin Center on Thursday, the reality of this weekend hit senior Sean Sheldon.
The Gladiators were 32 minutes from reaching their first MHSAA boys basketball Final. And now, they’re only 32 more from winning their first championship.
St. Francis earned that opportunity with 63-54 win over No. 8 Shelby in the second Class C Semifinal. The Gladiators will face Flint Beecher in the noon championship game Saturday.
“Last year, we got out of tournament pretty early. It was a big disappointment for us,” Sheldon said. “We looked ahead a little bit, kinda at what we could do. … Now we’re in the Finals, and now 32 minutes from holding up the first ever state title for our school.”
This was St. Francis’ third Semifinal appearance. The Gladiators (25-2) had never before advanced, losing in their last appearance, in 2006, by 29 points to Saginaw Buena Vista.
St. Francis had high hopes last season. But Elk Rapids ended those abruptly in the District Final.
This time, the Gladiators beat all three of their District opponents by at least 31 points, and two more after that by at least 11 before coming up against Shelby – which was making its first Semifinal appearance since 1972, when Tigers’ longtime coach Rick Zoulek was in middle school.
“In the back of my mind, I was always thinking that was a goal of mine,” said Shelby’s David Beckman, Jr., who with Jeremiah James was a four-year varsity player. “It just happened to be the 50-year anniversary, and we actually made that happen. We had 13 guys make that happen.”
And they nearly advanced to their first Final since that same season.
No matter how much St. Francis surged, Shelby hung around – and took a 45-44 lead with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. The Gladiators held just a one-point lead with 5:58 to play.
“You could feel the momentum coming back our way, and we had a few breaks go against us. A couple mistakes. We missed a couple of shots, a turnover here and there,” Zoulek said. “It was really close. It makes you realize how close you really are to being in that final game. Just a couple of plays.”
Some of them came from Sheldon, who scored six of his 16 points over the final six minutes. The Tigers also made just 4 of 11 shots during that time and had three turnovers. They did well breaking St. Francis’ fullcourt press, but struggled to finish at the other end.
Beckman finished with 17 points and James had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Shelby (24-3).
Three others scored in double figures for St. Francis – senior guard Devin Sheehy led with 18 points (and seven assists), while senior center Michael Jenkins added 14 points and sophomore guard Byron Bullough had 11. Sheldon, who has signed with William & Mary, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
While the basketball championship game is new ground for St. Francis, winning at this level is not—the Gladiators have won six MHSAA football championships over the last 21 seasons.
It’s definitely a football school by reputation. And that success was a big reason basketball coach Keith Haske took the hoops job before 2010-11 after leading multiple Charlevoix teams to Breslin.
“One of the reasons I was excited about going there was because of football. The kids have the mentality they can be state champions,” Haske said. “When I walked in the first day of practice, I had a group of kids who said that because of football, we can be state champs here. That’s a huge factor, and I don’t think people realize that. Because not only do that believe that, but they put the work into it.”
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Traverse City St. Francis' Sean Sheldon had 16 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday's Semifinal win. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.